All New Transit Buses To Be Electric By 2030 Predicts Proterra CEO

Electric cars are the thing of the day. Owing to pollution and inefficiency of the older engines and due to stricter government regulations, automakers are moving to a cleaner and greener fuel - electricity. The U.S. city transit authorities also seem to be paying heed as the electric buses have now started gaining a lot of popularity.

The CEO, Ryan Popple, of the electric bus manufacturer Proterra, believes that the electric buses will gain dominance and will replace the other internal combustion engines. He predicted that by 2020, one-third of the new fleet of city buses will be electric. He also feels that by 2030, every new bus purchased will be an electric bus.

There are many companies that are now in the business of manufacturing electric buses across the world and it is being used in several cities too. "The market share of electric buses will expand much more rapidly than has been the case with electric cars," said Ryan Popple during Greentech Media's Energy Gang podcast, reported Green Car Reports.

Also, the transit buses operate on predictable routes and hence it is much easier to install charging stations for the buses. Another USP would be the almost quiet operation of the bus and the lack of exhaust fumes, reported Green Tech Media.

For his prediction to come true, a strong growth in sales should be witnessed in a very short span of time in future. However, Popple remains hopeful as the electric buses are already giving a price advantage to the buyers than the diesel and CNG counterparts.

This price advantage will make these cars a strong pick as fleet operators would rather pick something which is efficient and quotes a lesser price. He stated that this is possible due to the fact that while passenger cars are consumer goods, the buses are essentially commodity purchases.

Another factor that will help the sale of all-electric vehicles - both cars and buses is the anticipated drop in the cost of lithium-ion battery cells. In a recent report, it is predicted that in comparison to the $268 per kWh today, the battery prices will drop to $100 per kilowatt-hour by 2020.